1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to exercise equipment, and more specifically to weight lifting benches and apparatuses allowing the use of dumbbells.
2. Related Art
Weight lifting is a popular form of exercise and physical therapy in today's world. The use of dumbbells in one's workout routine is a good means of strengthening biceps, triceps, pectorals, and various other muscle groups. During the performance of such exercise, it is important for lifters to have the means by which to safely workout. A lifter often relies on another person, a "spotter", to assist with a workout to ensure that he/she does not lose control of the dumbbells and injure himself/herself. In the alternative when a spotter is not available, a lifter may use a weight lifting support apparatus while exercising.
The use of conventional support apparatuses and equipment when exercising has certain inherent weaknesses. For example, a standard weight lifting bench may or may not have a barbell cross bar. However, a barbell cross bar does not provide a means by which a lifter can use dumbbells. Therefore, there is a need for a weight lifting apparatus that assists a lifter with exercising with dumbbells so that the lifter does not have to rely on the availability of a spotter.
An example of such a conventional apparatus is U.S. Pat. No. 4,666,150, entitled Dumbbell Position Rack, to Segrist, ("Segrist Patent") which discloses an apparatus comprising a vertical support tower on top of which is mounted a saddle for receiving, supporting and storing a single dumbbell. In operation a lifter must use two such vertical support towers, one on each side of him/her wherein one tower is used for each of the two dumbbells being used.
The Segrist Patent has a major weakness in that a support tower is a single support that is positioned on one side of the lifter. Such a tower is easily knocked over when accidently hit or when a dumbbell is placed on it in a very fast and off-balanced manner, e.g., when a lifter loses control of a dumbbell during a strenuous workout. Depending on the size of the weight being used, serious bodily injury may result from a falling dumbbell and/or tower.
A second disadvantage of the Segrist Patent is that during the normal and anticipated use of the support towers, a lifter must use two separate towers during a workout. Therefore, it is encumbant upon the lifter to place the two towers in the proper position alongside a bench. If the towers are not in proper alignment, the lifter may not be able to comfortably reach the towers or correctly place the dumbbells, or press bar or curl bar, onto the towers when the exercise is complete. In addition, it is very easy to knock one or both towers out of alignment, also resulting in the lifter not having a safe workout or being able to workout without injury.
Therefore, there is a need for a dumbell support apparatus that provides a single integrated structure for supporting two dumbbells, as used during a workout session, that cannot be knocked out of alignment with a misplaced or slipped dumbell. There is also a need for such a dumbbell support apparatus that a lifter can easily use without requiring additional preparation time for equipment setup or additional personnel.
In U.S. Pat. No. 5,616,108, entitled Dumbbell Support Attachment for Barbell Cross Bar, to Hayden, ("Hayden Patent") an attachment device is disclosed that hangs from a conventional barbell cross bar so that dumbbells can be used with a conventional weight lifting bench. This attachment device is not adjustable to accommodate a lifter's different exercises, nor can it easily accommodate lifters of various size and build or lifters having different hand positions. For example, if a lifter wants to workout using an incline or decline position, the structure of the Hayden device would inhibit or completely prevent the lifter's workout due to its solid bottom portion. Further, in order for the lifter to store dumbbells, the lifter's hands must be properly spaced to fit between the open cutouts because the device is not adjustable. Further, the attachment device of the Hayden Patent cannot work with any conventional weight lifting bench because it only works with a bench having a barbell cross bar from which to hang.
Therefore, there is a need for a dumbbell support apparatus that is easily adapted to any conventional weight lifting bench for supporting the use of dumbbells, bench press bars and curl bars.